Printing ink



- Pai:ented July 20, 1943 a omen.

PB-INTINGJNK Isidor M. Bernstein, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to H. D. Roosen Company, Brooklyn,

poration of'New York No Drawing. Application November- 29, 1941,

- Serial No. 421,026

V 11 can... (01. 10649) "This invention relates to printing inks and moreparticularly to a heatset rotary printing ink.

Heat-set rotary inks, of the solvent evaporating type, require a'solvent which, at room temperatures, evaporates slowly so as to prevent drying of the ink or excessive tackiness on the press because of large evaporation losses. The solvent must; however, evaporate rapidly from the printed web at the drying temperature of the press heating unit so that the ink sets and dries quickly. Wheremore rapidly evaporating solvents such as petroleum fractions boiling from 480 F. to 540 F. have been used, certain waxes have been incorporated therein, as common practice, to reduce the rate'of evaporation at-room temperatures by forming a protective surface film on the ink. The results have'not been entirely satisfactory on high speed presses,

however, due to the fact that the inking rollers keep the ink in rapid motion so that the wax film-canform to only a limited extent. For example, even when of paraflin wax (melting point 128F.) is used in an ink containing ordinary kerosene (B. P. 328 l t-540? F.) as the majorportion'of the solvent, the rate of evaporation of the ink on a press is not sufficiently reduced to allow' the press to run satisfactorily for any substantial length of time without the ink becoming excessively tacky and unprintable.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing ink in which the above men tioned difliculties' are avoided.

Another object is to provide a novel and improved ink for the purpose above indicated.

Various other objects and advantages will become apparent as the nature of the invention is more fully disclosed.

In accordance with this invention, this is accomplished by incorporating in the solvent certain modifying agents which have the property of lowering the evaporation rate of the solvent to a point where a printing press can be operated satisfactorily for extended periods of time without the ink becoming unduly tacky.

Essentially, the novel discovery forming the basis of the present invention resides in the use of long chain hydrocarbon compounds containing a hydroxyl group or groups, such as alcohols, (monohydric or dihydric), and air blown fatty acids, as addition agents for wax-containing printing inks. The addition agent is used, preferably in amounts varying from about 1% of the -product to substantially 5%, depending, of

N. Y., a coramounts, of the various ingredients. It will be understood that the above optimum percentages are given byway of example only, as greater amounts may be used with similar beneficial results.

The addition agents should have relatively high boiling points so that they will not evaporate too quickly out of the ink. In addition, it is necessary to use a substancewhich is soluble in the major fraction of the solvent. I have obtained good results with solid alcohols, such as cetyl alcohol (n-hexadecanol) and stearyl alcohol (n-octadecanol). -I have also used medium and high boiling point liquid alcohols and certain glycols,'having carbon chain lengths from Cs to Can, which are sumciently soluble in the solvent. These"substances may be either straight chain aliphatic (saturated or unsaturated), branched chain aliphatic, cyclic, aromatic, or bridged. The following materials have been found suitable for the purposes of the present invention, and are listed here as exemplary of others ofsimilar character which may be used. 1

- 1. MoNoHYni'uc ALCOHOLS A. Primary alcohols-Saturated aliphatic 13. Primary alcohols-Unsaturated aliphatic Diallylpropylcarbinol, C10 Geraniol, C10 Undecanol, C11

Oleylalcohol, C18 Elaidyl alcohol, C18 Linoleylalcohol, Cm Abietenol, Cm

C. Primary alcohols- Aromatic or heterocyclic D. Secondary alcohols-Saturated aliphatic Octanol-2, Ca Nonanol-2, Co Decanol-2. C Undecanol-Z, Cu Tetradecanol-4. C14 Heptadecanol-G, C17

E. Secondary alcohols-Aromatic or heterocyclic Fenchyl alcohol, C10 Menthol, C10 N-Amylphenylcarbinol, C1: Cholesterol, C21

F. Tertiary alcohols Alpha terpineol, C10 Beta terpineol, C10 Triphenylcarbinol, C19

2. DIHYDRIC ALCOHOLS (GLYCOLS) sym. Dipropylethylene glycol, Ca sym. Diamylethylene glycol, C12

3. Fatty acids containing hydroxyl groups, such as castor oil, as well as fatty acids of the semi-drying and drying oil groups which have been air-blown to introduce one or more hydroxyl groups at the double bonds. Of this group of materials the following are worthy of special note: hydroxyl additive fatty acids from airblown oils including castor, soya bean, linseed, corn, sunflower seed, China-wood-(tung), and oiticica oils, as well as from commercial oleic acid.

Among the waxes used in conjunction with the described addition agents are montan (natural or synthetic), ozokerite (natural or synthetic), beeswax, carnauba wax, or parafiin wax. The waxes may be used in the ink in percentages vary ing from 3% to 10%.

In addition to the waxes, it is sometimes desirable to incorporate pour point depressants, such as Para Flow, a synthetic lubricating oil prepared by the condensation in the presence of anhydrous aluminum chloride of chlorinated wax with aromatic hydrocarbons, in amounts from 1% to 4%, in order to lower the wax crystallization temperatures, particularly when high wax percentages are used.

The following are specific examples of novel heat-set rotary inks embodying the present invention.

Special petroleum fraction (503-536" F.,

B. P.) 13.5 Paraflln wax 7.0 Para Flow 3.0 Pigment (blue and purple toners) 16.5 Carbon black and/0r lamp black 15.5 Heptadecanol-6 2.5 a

ExAuPLa II Per cent Resin 23.0 Kerosene 328-540 F., B. P 23.0

Special petroleum fraction (503-536 F.,

Pigment (blue and purple toners): 16.5

Carbon black and/ or lamp black 15.5 Cetyl alcohol 5.0

EXAMPLE IV Per cent Resin 23.0 Kerosene 328-540 F., B. P 23.0 Special petroleum fraction (503-536 F.,

B. P.) 14.0 Paraffin wax 3.0 Pigment (blue and purple toners) 16.5 Carbon black and/or lamp black 15.5 Hydroxylated fatty acid 5.0

EXAMPLE V Per cent Resin 18.0 Kerosene (328-540 F., B. P.) 18.0 Special petroleum fraction (503-536 F.,

B. P.) 11.0 Paraflin wax 3.0 Colored pigments (yellow, red, blue, etc.) 45.0 Stearyl alcohol 5.0

While I have discovered that the use of a long chain alcohol is directly beneficial when used in conjunction with wax, in lowering the dynamic evaporation rate of an ink in which kerosene forms the major portion of the solvent, I do not limit myself merely to those inks. The invention may, of course, be applied to other petroleum solvent fractions and these fractions may be either saturated hydrocarbons, unsaturated, or a mixture of the two.

Although certain specific embodiments of the invention have been set forth for purposes of illustration, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein and that the invention may be applied to various uses as will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art. The invention is only to be limited in accordance with the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A heat-set printing ink comprising a pigment dispersed in a vehicle containing a .volatile solvent and a solvent evaporation retardent comprising a wax and a substance selected from the group consisting of monohydric alcohols having from 8 to 30 carbon atoms each, dihydric alcohols having from 8 to 12 carbon atoms each and higher hydroxylated fatty acids.

2. A heat-set printing ink comprising a pigment dispersed in a vehicle comprising a resin and a volatile solvent, and a solvent evaporation retardent comprising a wax and a substance selected from the group consisting of monohydric alcohols havingfrom 8 to 30 carbon atoms each, dihydric alcohols having from 8 to 12 carbon atoms each and higher hydroxjrlated fatty acids.

3. A heat-set printing ink as set forth in claim 1 in which said substance is present in the proportion of about 1% to 5%. i

4. A heat-set printing ink as set forth inclaim 1 in which said volatile solvent comprises a substance boiling between 328 F. and 540 F;

5. A heat-set printing ink as set forth in claim 1 in which said solvent comprises a material boiling between about 328 F. and 540 F., said wax is present in the proportion of about 3% to 10% and the said substance is present in the proportionof about 1% to'5%.

6. A heat-set printing ink comprising a pigment dispersed in a vehicle containing a volatile solvent and a solvent evaporation retardent' comprising. a wax and cetyl alcohol.

'7. A heat-set printing ink comprising a pigsolvent and 'a solvent evaporation retardent comprising a wax and stearyl alcohol.

8. A heat-set printing ink as set forth in claim 1 in which said wax is selected from the group consisting of montan, ozokerite, beeswax, carnauba wax and parafiin wax.

9. A heat-set printing ink comprising a pigment dispersed in a vehicle-comprising a resin' F. and 540 F. and a solvent evaporation re-' tardent comprising paraflln wax and stearyl alcohol. v

;11. A heat-set printing ink comprising a pigment dispersed in a vehicle comprising a resin A and apetroleum traction boiling between 328 1". and 540 F. and a solvent evaporation retardent comprising montan wax and cetyl alcohol.

ISIDOR M. BERNSTEIN.

ment dispersed in a vehiclecontaining a volatile 

